A related art of a hybrid vehicle controller of this type is disclosed in JP 3654048 B (hereinafter, referred to as Patent Document 1). The hybrid vehicle controller according to Patent Document 1 includes: path searching means for searching a path to the destination; road condition detecting means for detecting the road condition of the path; path dividing means for dividing the path into plural zones at points where starting and stopping are predicted; driving history recording means for recording therein a driving history of the driver; vehicle speed estimating means for estimating a vehicle speed pattern for each zone with reference to the road condition and the driving history; and operation schedule setting means for setting operation schedules for the engine and the motor for each zone according to the vehicle speed pattern and the fuel consumption characteristic of the engine so as to minimize a fuel consumption amount to the destination. The operation schedule setting means compares a fuel consumption amount resulting from a first operation schedule, according to which the vehicle travels by operating the motor in a zone where the operation efficiency of the engine becomes low (hereinafter, referred to as the low efficiency zone) while the battery is charged by driving the motor to generate electric power using a power, which is a difference when a power need for the travel is subtracted from a power of the engine, by making the power of the engine larger than the output needed for the travel by shifting the operation point of the engine in the other zones such that the operation efficiency is increased, with a fuel consumption amount resulting from a second operation schedule, according to which the vehicle travels by operating the engine alone in the low efficiency zone and the other zones, and chooses the first operation schedule in a case where the fuel consumption amount resulting from the first operation schedule is smaller than the fuel consumption amount resulting from the second schedule. Accordingly, the operation schedules for the engine and the motor are set so as to minimize the fuel consumption amount of the engine in response to the road condition of the route to the destination.
According to Patent Document 1, in a case where the first operation schedule is chosen, whether the vehicle travels by operating the motor or by operating the engine is set for each of the zones divided at points at which starting and stopping are predicted. However, in a case where a region where the vehicle requirement power is low and a region where the vehicle requirement power is high are present together in the same zone, it becomes difficult to set the operation schedules for the engine and the motor appropriately. For example, either the vehicle travels using a power of the engine even in a region in which the operation efficiency of the engine is low, or the vehicle travels using a power of the motor even in a region in which the operation efficiency of the engine is high. Also, according to the method for setting whether the vehicle travels by operating the motor or by operating the engine on a zone by zone basis for the path divided into plural zones, the setting made in one zone affects the other zones. Accordingly, either a massive volume of computation is required to set the operation schedules for the engine and the motor appropriately for the entire route, or it becomes impossible to achieve the most appropriate operation schedules for the engine and the motor for the entire route.